


Reese's Diner

by Jestana



Series: 30 Days of AU [30]
Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Diners, Alternate Universe - Restaurant, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-30
Updated: 2013-07-30
Packaged: 2017-12-21 22:02:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/905449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jestana/pseuds/Jestana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harold overhears an interesting conversation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reese's Diner

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 30 day AU challenge. The challenge for this one was _Author's Choice_. My choice was a restaurant AU, inspired by a post on Tumblr about the fact that Reese seems to have a need to feed people Unfortunately, I can't find it. If anyone knows the post I'm talking about, could you please link me to it? No beta.

Harold Finch had long ago learned the value of appearing oblivious to his surroundings while remaining keenly aware of them. At the moment, he had his netbook open and headphones plugged in, though no music was playing. As he nursed a cup of coffee, two men slid into the booth behind him.

One of them sounded incredulous as he asked in a low voice: "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Somethin' wrong with this place?" The second man sounded puzzled. "I've been watchin' it for awhile now: does brisk business, probably takes in a lotta cash--"

"You clearly haven't been in New York long." Harold opened the voice recognition system on his netbook, silently urging the men to continue talking.

Now petulant, the second man said: "Depends on your definition of 'long'."

"In this case, more than five years." The first voice was brisk and, somehow, maddeningly familiar.

Suspicion from the second man now. "Why? What happened five years ago?"

"Reese's Diner opened." Harold hid a proud smile in his coffee cup. Though he had his back to the men, it was still best not to show any reactions.

As the second man asked another question, Harold hacked the security cameras and used them to get good shots of the men's faces. "It's been open that long and no one--"

"A group of men _did_ try it a few months after it opened." With several good shots of their faces now, Harold loaded them into his facial recognition program.

"It didn't work? Why not? Is the owner payin' protection to Elias or someone?" The voice recognition program pinged to announce that it'd found matches for the voices.

"No, Reese isn't paying for protection." Harold compared the information to the stills he'd taken from the security cameras. "He protects his diner himself."

"One man against _how_ many?" Harold could hear the studied casualness of the tone.

"Four, but he must've had Spec Forces training or something, because he disabled all of them without breaking a sweat." Harold put all the information he'd complied from the programs and the security cameras into an encrypted zip file and e-mailed it to a private e-mail address that only he and John knew about.

"Maybe they were exaggeratin' to explain why they couldn't rob a simple diner." He didn't even sound like he believed it.

"He kneecapped them all and told them to spread the word that his diner was off-limits to would-be robbers or protection racketeers. Anyone trying either would end up in jail."

"Could've just been talkin' big."

"Be sure to tell your brother as much when you see him in prison." With that, the first man got up and left the diner. Watching surreptitiously, Harold could tell that the man walked with a slight limp, as if he had an old knee injury that bothered him.

He packed up and left a generous tip before leaving as well, his own gait stiff and awkward. He pulled out his phone when it chirped, reading the text John had sent him: _Think he got the message?_

_Don't know, I'll watch him closely for now._ He didn't bother to put his phone back in his pocket, knowing John would send a reply.

He wasn't disappointed: _Kk. See you at home._

_See you then._ A smile tugged at his lips. _Have fun feeding as much of New York as you can._

One last word: _Always._

Still smiling, Harold continued homeward.


End file.
